Breed and sex differences in equally mature sheep and goats 1. Growth and food intake

Thonney, M. L.; Taylor, St C. S.; McClelland, T. H.

doi:10.1017/s0003356100018833

Cited by 22 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…This observed relationship between growth rate and mature size was as expected from theoretical considerations about scaling to size (e.g. Thonney et al, 1987a;Emmans, 1988) and has been previously observed in a wide range of sheep breeds (Mason, 1967;McClelland et al, 1976). In contrast, Zervas et al (1977) and Matsoukas et al (1987) found no significant difference in growth rates between Serres and Karagouniko sheep.…”

Section: Growth and Potential Growthsupporting

confidence: 88%

The growth and development of nine European sheep breeds. 2. Greek breeds: Boutsko, Serres and Karagouniko

et al. 1997

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The objective of this study was to assess the growth and development of carcass composition of entire male and female lambs of three Greek dairy breeds (Boutsko, Serres and Karagouniko), from weaning to live weights approaching maturity, when kept under conditions designed to be nutritionally non-limiting. Lambs were weaned at 6 weeks of age and given a high quality pelleted food ad libitum until slaughter at one of five different degrees of maturity. As expected, there were significant effects of breed and sex on both food intake and growth rate. The Gompertz growth function was used to characterize, for each genotype, the growth curve and to provide estimates of mature weight and appeared to describe adequately growth rate. For two breeds (Serres and Karagouniko) food intake (g/day) increased in a linear fashion with time up to approximately 24 weeks of age and then remained static for the last 10 to 22 weeks of the experiment; this coincided with the increased environmental temperatures during summer. No such plateau in food intake was seen for the Boutsko sheep. The estimates of mature weight (kg) for the females of each breed were: Boutsko, 60; Serres, 66; Karagouniko, 77. These were substantially in excess (1-4 times on average) of the pre-trial calculations of mature weight. The mature weights of the males were found to be not significantly different from 1-3 times the mature weights of the females. Relationships between carcass composition and weight were derived by allometric regressions. This study provides the first full description of the growth and meat production potential of the three Greek breeds; as such it is part of an overall study that aimed to characterize (for the first time as far as the authors are aware) nine sheep breeds from diverse regions of the European Union.

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Section: Growth and Potential Growthsupporting

confidence: 88%

The growth and development of nine European sheep breeds. 2. Greek breeds: Boutsko, Serres and Karagouniko

et al. 1997

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“…These values are marginally higher than those reported by Thonney et al (1987a;04 to 0-52 maturity interval) of 177 and 200 g/day for females and males respectively. These values are marginally higher than those reported by Thonney et al (1987a;04 to 0-52 maturity interval) of 177 and 200 g/day for females and males respectively.…”

Section: Welsh Mountaincontrasting

confidence: 65%

The growth and development of nine European sheep breeds. 1. British breeds: Scottish Blackface, Welsh Mountain and Shetland

et al. 1997

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The objective of this study was to assess the growth and development of carcass composition of entire male and female lambs of three British hill breeds (Scottish Blackface, Welsh Mountain, and Shetland), from weaning to approaching maturity, when kept under conditions designed to be nutritionally non-limiting. Lambs were weaned at 8 weeks of age and given a high-quality pelleted diet ad libitum until slaughter at one of five different degrees of maturity. The Gompertz growth function was used to characterize, for each genotype, the growth curve and to provide estimates of mature weight. As expected, there were significant effects of breed and sex on both food intake and growth rate. Growth rate was depressed, relative to the Gompertz fit, during the months of October to January, and intake was similarly depressed. The estimates of mature weight for the females of each breed were: Scottish Blackface, 69; Welsh Mountain, 61; Shetland, 46 kg. The mature weights of the males were found to be not significantly different from 1-3 times the mature weight of females. Relationships between carcass composition and live weight were derived by allometric regression. This study provides the first full description of the growth and meat production potential of the three breeds.

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“…0-03)) ( Table 3). Comparison of this b value for total muscle with those given by Thonney et al (1987a) for shorn, fasted slaughter weight (b = 1-02 (s.e. 0-03)) and for shorn empty body weight (b = 1-05 (s.e.…”

Section: Allometric Growthmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Maturity x sex, maturity x breed and sex x breed interactions also were included. The method of analysis is described in Thonney et al (1987a).…”

Section: Analysis Of Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Breed and sex differences in equally mature sheep and goats 3. Muscle weight distribution

et al. 1987

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Males and females from Soay, Welsh Mountain, Southdown, Finnish Landrace, Jacob, Wiltshire Horn and Oxford Down sheep breeds and a breed of feral goats were slaughtered when they reached 0-40, 0-52, 0-64 or 0-76 of the mean mature body weight of their breed and sex. Total weight of dissected muscle was close to 0-30 times fleece-free empty body weight, or 0-24 times live weight, for all breeds and stages of maturity. The growth of 12 individual muscles or muscle groups dissected from the commercially higher-valued joints of the carcass, was examined in relation to live weight and total muscle weight. Limb muscles matured early. All 12 muscles, when combined, also matured early so that the proportion of lean tissue from the higher-valued joints declined as live weight increased.There were small but significant sex differences in the relative growth rate of some muscles. The abdominal muscles were early maturing for males and average for females. There were also sex differences in muscle weight distribution. The proportion of muscle in the hind limb of females was 1-055 times that in males, while the 12 muscles from higher-valued cuts constituted 0-403 of total carcass muscle for females and 0-389 for males, a proportional difference of 0035.Muscle weight distribution was unrelated to breed size with the possible exception of m. gastrocnemius which appeared to be relatively smaller in genetically larger breeds. After accounting for differences in mature weight, there remained small but significant breed deviations in muscle weight distribution. Southdowns had the most attractive distribution. Feral goats and Jacob sheep, although they had the highest proportion of total muscle, had a much less attractive distribution.

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Breed and sex differences in equally mature sheep and goats 1. Growth and food intake

Cited by 22 publications

References 14 publications

The growth and development of nine European sheep breeds. 2. Greek breeds: Boutsko, Serres and Karagouniko

The growth and development of nine European sheep breeds. 2. Greek breeds: Boutsko, Serres and Karagouniko

The growth and development of nine European sheep breeds. 1. British breeds: Scottish Blackface, Welsh Mountain and Shetland

Breed and sex differences in equally mature sheep and goats 3. Muscle weight distribution

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